Outboard motor support

ABSTRACT

An outboard motor support for preventing damage from inadvertent pivoting of the motor during trailering is provided which includes a pair of spring-loaded locking pins for convenient placement and removal. The support is attached to the motor and boat without making modifications thereto and handles are affixed to the spring-loaded locking pins for easy manipulation. Two embodiments of the outboard motor support are provided to accommodate the different popular types of outboard motors.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention herein pertains to the stabilization of outboard motorsduring transportation and particularly to stabilizing outboard motorswhich are attached to boats during trailering.

2. Description of the Prior Art and Objectives of the Invention

During the trailering of boats having an outboard motor attached thereis a potential problem of damaging the motor and/or boat if the motor isnot sufficiently secure. Traveling at high rates of speeds on highwayscan cause vibration and shock to the boat and motor, especially if theroad is not level and smooth. In addition, trailering at low speeds overbumpy, rough terrain, as must usually be done at launch sites, also haspotential for causing damage to a motor that is not fully secured sinceit may wildly pivot from side to side.

Various types of shock absorbers and other devices have been designed inthe past, such as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,016, to helpstabilize the outboard motor and prevent damage in certain instances.Such devices are time consuming to install and modifications to the boator motor structure may be required before installation. Thus, it hasbeen found that an outboard motor support must be easily attached andremoved or else it is forgotten and left unused. With the problems anddisadvantages of prior outboard motor support stabilizing devices, thepresent invention was conceived and one of its objectives is to providean outboard motor support which can be quickly, conveniently installedand removed without modifying the boat or motor from its factorycondition.

It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide anoutboard motor support which is relatively simple in construction andlow in cost yet which will eliminate trailer shock.

It is a further objective of the present invention to provide anoutboard motor support which will prevent vertical and horizontalpivoting of the motor during trailering.

It is also an objective of the present invention to provide an outboardmotor support that requires no modifications to the boat or motorbrackets for installation.

Various other objectives and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art as a more detaileddescription is set forth below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A support for an outboard motor is provided which includes a tubular,longitudinal member having means to attach the support transverselypositioned at each end thereof. In the preferred embodiment, theattaching means for the motor includes an angled planar plate having aplurality of openings for accepting conventional motor bolts. Theattaching means for the boat in both embodiments includes a pair ofspring-loaded locking pins which have handles for manually withdrawingthe pins during attaching or removing the support from the aperturesalong the lower boat bracket.

The outboard motor support can be quickly positioned or removed asnecessary and will stabilize the outboard motor during trailering and isparticularly useful when trailering over rough terrains to preventinjury and damage to the motor and boat from an inadvertent swingingmotor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 demonstrates the preferred embodiment of the outboard motorsupport attached to a conventional outboard motor and boat with the boatand trailer seen in fragmented fashion;

FIG. 2 shows a close-up fragmented view of the motor and support asshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates a close-up alternate embodiment of the outboard motorsupport from that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 depicts a top plan view of the outboard motor support removedfrom the boat and motor for better viewing;

FIG. 5 pictures a bottom plan view of the motor support as shown in FIG.4;

FIG. 6 presents a side elevational view of the motor support as shown inFIG. 4.

FIG. 7 features an end view of the motor support as seen in FIG. 6 alonglines 7--7;

FIG. 8 shows a top plan view of an alternate embodiment of the outboardmotor support as shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 9 is a bottom plan view of the outboard motor support as seen inFIG. 8;

FIG. 10 reveals a side elevational view of the motor support as shown inFIG. 8; and

FIG. 11 displays an end view of the outboard motor support as shown inFIG. 10 along lines 11--11.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The preferred form of the invention as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4-7 asused with a conventional Mercury outboard motor. The outboard motorsupport as shown in FIG. 2 is attached to the conventional lower boatbrackets as the locking pins, as better shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, arefully extended and penetrate the apertures contained within the lowerboat brackets. As would be understood, a pair of lower boat brackets areprovided on opposite sides of the boat, but only one such bracket isshown in FIG. 2.

The preferred form of the outboard motor support is seen in a top planview in FIG. 4 and includes a longitudinal center member with a lateralsleeve containing spring biased locking pins at one end and a lateralplanar attaching bracket at the other end having a resilient pad. Theresilient pad prevents marring of the motor bracket when attachedthereto. The planar attaching bracket includes a pair of apertures asshown in FIG. 7 which engage the bolts which are standardly affixed tothe outboard motor as shown in FIG. 2. When so positioned, the motorsupport prevents lateral or side to side pivoting movement of theoutboard motor and accompanying motion which may cause damage duringtrailering, for example during high-speed transportation over unevenhighways or along rough, unpaved roads. Each locking pin includes ahandle which allows the pins to be manually withdrawn for attaching toor removing from the lower boat brackets.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS AND OPERATION OF THE INVENTION

For a better understanding of the invention and its operation, turningnow to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows in the preferred form, outboard motorsupport 10 positioned on lower boat bracket 11 which, in turn, isaffixed to boat 13 positioned on trailer 14 for trailering boat 13 alonga highway or the like. Outboard motor 15 is, for example, a largehorsepower Mercury outboard motor which may be equipped with hydrauliccontrols (not shown) for movement and steering, as is standard in theindustry. Support 10 requires no modifications to either boat 15 orlower bracket 11, which as shown in FIG. 2 includes a plurality ofapertures 16 to allow selected placement of support 10 therealong. Motor15 includes a pair of bolts 17 (FIG. 2) for easy attachment of support10 to motor 15 as will be described in more detail hereinafter. Outboardmotor support 10 is shown removed in more detail in FIGS. 4-7 and, asshown in FIG. 4, includes a tubular longitudinal member 20 which hasbeen flattened at both ends 21, 22 for attachment to sleeve 24 and toplanar bracket 30. In FIG. 4, sleeve 24 is affixed to longitudinalmember 20 at end 22 such as by welding or the like, and containsslidable locking pins 25, 25'. Locking pins 25, 25' are spring-loadedthrough the use of coil springs 26, 26' and can be manipulated byhandles 27, 27' shown in FIG. 5 as handles 27, 27' slide along slots 28,28' therein. Handles 27, 27' are manually moved along slot 28, 28'respectively to withdraw pins 25, 25' during placement and removal ofmotor support 10. At the end of support 10 opposite sleeve 24, planarbracket 30 is shown affixed such as by welding or the like tointermediate plate 31. Planar bracket 30 is provided with guard 32 whichmay be formed from a somewhat resilient polymeric material to preventmarring of the outboard motor surfaces which it contacts. As seen inFIG. 6, planar bracket 30 is positioned at an angle of approximately 70°from the axis of longitudinal member 20 to accommodate the usualposition of, for example, outboard motor 15 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.Planar bracket 30, as seen in FIG. 7, includes a pair of apertures 33,33'. As earlier stated, apertures 33, 33' receive threaded bolts 17, 17'(17' not shown) respectively on motor 15.

In use, preferred bracket 10 is positioned on motor bolts 17, 17' asdescribed and with finger pressure on handles 27, 27', locking pins 25,25' are withdrawn. In FIG. 5, pin 25 is shown fully withdrawn whereaspin 25' is shown partially withdrawn by the movement of handles 27, 27'.Sleeve 24 is then slid between lower boat brackets 11, 11' (11' notshown) and with sleeve 24 properly positioned, handles 27, 27' arereleased allowing locking pins 25, 25' to pass through apertures 16, 16'(16' not shown). With support 10 so positioned, trailering can beconducted over highways at high speeds, rough roads, unpaved terrain orthe like, without fear of damage from the pivoting and motion of motor15 which may occur.

An alternate embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 3 and 8-11whereby outboard motor support 40 is shown attached to lower opposingboat brackets 41, 41' (41' not shown). As also seen in FIG. 8-11,support 40 includes central tubular longitudinal member 42 which hasbeen flattened at ends 43, 44. Sleeve 45 is similar to sleeve 24 asdescribed for motor support 10 in that it contains a pair ofspring-loaded retractable locking pins 46, 46' and includes handles 47,47' respectively, affixed thereto. Longitudinal member 42 issubstantially shorter than its counterpart longitudinal member 20 asshown with outboard motor support 10, since the means for attachingsupport 40 to another conventional outboard motor is different. As seenin FIG. 3, outboard motor 50 is designed with a pair of openings 51,(not shown) 51' for receiving respectively, studs 48, 48' which areattached to planar bracket 49 (FIGS. 8-11). Studs 48, 48' are sized toeasily slide into openings 51, 51' and with locking pins 46, 46' inplace, cannot be inadvertently removed during transportation.

Various changes and modifications can be made by those skilled in theart and the illustrations and examples provided herein are forexplanatory purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of theappended claims.

I claim:
 1. A support for an outboard motor positioned on a boatcomprising: a longitudinal member, a first means to attach one end ofsaid longitudinal member to the outboard motor, said first attachingmeans affixed to said longitudinal member, a second means to attach theother end of said longitudinal member to the boat, said second attachingmeans affixed to said longitudinal member, said second attaching meanscomprising a sleeve, a locking pin, said locking pin slidably containedwithin said sleeve, a resilient member, said resilient member containedwithin said sleeve for biasing said locking pin into an extendedposition relative to said sleeve.
 2. The motor support of claim 1wherein said first attaching means comprises a planar bracket, saidplanar bracket defining an aperture for receiving a bolt therethrough.3. The motor support of claim 2 wherein said planar bracket defines aplurality of apertures, each of said apertures for receiving a bolt. 4.The motor support of claim 1 wherein said first attaching meanscomprises a planar bracket, a stud, said stud extending from saidbracket for engaging the outboard motor.
 5. The motor support of claim 1further comprising a handle, said handle attached to said locking pin.6. The motor support of claim 1 wherein said sleeve defines a handleslot.
 7. A support for an outboard motor positioned on a boat tostabilize the motor during trailering comprising: a rigid longitudinalmember, a first means to attach one end of said longitudinal member tothe outboard motor, said first attaching means affixed to saidlongitudinal member, a second means to attach the other end of saidlongitudinal member to the boat, said second attaching means affixed tosaid longitudinal member, said second attaching means comprising asleeve, said sleeve perpendicularly joined to said longitudinal member,said sleeve defining a pair of handle slots therealong, a pair oflocking pins, said locking pins contained within said sleeve, a pair ofsprings, each of said springs contacting a different one of said pair oflocking pins to bias the same, a pair of handles, each of said handlesattached to a different one of said locking pins, said handlespositioned in said handle slots for manual movement of said lockingpins.
 8. The support of claim 7 wherein said longitudinal membercomprises a metal tube.